Marvellous Madagascar 2025




Introduction 

Come with Andy to experience the highlights of Madagascar wildlife without any fillers and ensuring quality wildlife encounters. See amazing dancing Sifakas, meet playful ring tailed lemurs of movie fame and stunning chameleons amoungst a wealth of other species! Hear the incredible song of the Indri Lemur reverberate through the morning mist that hangs in the forest and wonder at the bizarre Aye Aye! Every step inside the rainforest yields more wildlife, it's a country where every footstep is one of discovery. Madagascar draws photographers from the world over. No matter what your interest in photography, fauna or flora, long lens or macro, Madagascar provides a wonderful canvas for you to photograph your own story.

Lemurs are so engaging they are amazing, you will never tire of interactions with them. You will get up close personal encounters with a multitude of species, there is no need for long lenses on this tour and everything you see here was taken with either a 24-70mm or a 70-200mm f2.8. It's so wonderful to spend quality time with lemurs and that is why we are spending a few days in each location, rather than the usual Madagascar tour of moving everyday. It will be a relaxing trip, we will use the early and late light as always, will chill time in the day for walking, boat rides,a swim or a spa visit (two of the hotels have them).

Special Easy Access Tour - there are many hard core ways to experience Madagascar but this tour is not one. It has been especially designed for those people who want to get great up close and personal lemur encounters without fighting through the forest for hours. The majority of the walks are very flat and easy that can be achieved by anyone with average fitness. There is only one exception to this - see below for the Golden Sifaka trek and this is entirely optional.

Charter Flights - travel in Madagascar is challenging, especially by road. You must be very open and flexible to come on this tour as things will go wrong out of our control. The worst of these are the flights that are essential for us to take. Right now the domestic airline has just published it's schedules for next year and they are at crazy times in the middle of the night! It just will not work for us and will lead to a very stressful and tiring trip. Therefore we have decided to once again use one of the existing charter flight companies that are being increasingly used to take high end tour groups around Madagascar. This will of course incur a higher trip cost and of course the flight times will be slightly longer BUT in terms of reliability and flexibility they work!!!! I am respectful of any increased cost but in this case it is justified as we get extra shoot time with the lemurs and less baggage hassle (we had to pay excess fees last time and had so much stress!!). So charter is worth paying for all round. 

Local Knowledge - We don't goto the usual places everyone else does, we goto where the opportunities for wildlife photography are the best that I have worked in many times before. Because of this there will be no destinations given in this brochure as I keep my knowledge for the clients that want to come with me on this great adventure. There will be internal flights, drives in a minibus, boat transfers, you name it we will do it and all will be included in this great adventure!

Here is a summary......

  • 3 amazing locations
  • Up close and personal encounters with lemurs, chameleons and other species
  • 2 night shoots under special photographic lights for the amazing Aye Aye
  • Night walks for nocturnal species included
  • Accommodation ranging from basic to extremely nice, great local food throughout including fresh seafood
  • Great local guides for photography who we have used many times before
  • Internal domestic flights included
  • We are travelling in May when less photo tours will be around, when it is cooler and the days should be bright
  • Constant help and tuition from the best guide team around
  • Fully insured and protected with Wildlife & Wilderness (ATOL 6330) bonding
  • Flight package available (see below) to save you doing it yourself at competitive rates
  • All tips included (except for our main guide)

We will also contribute to a local forest conservation project by running this tour, which will be great!

Date: May 6th to 18th 2025

Availability: 1 / 5 place available

Guides: Andy Rouse plus experienced local guide whom Andy has worked with before

Price: £9450 including all land costs (accomodation, food, internal charter flights, tips) - we can also do an international flight package, see details at end of brochure. Of course there are many cheaper tours but they don't visit where we do, they use a lot of road transfers (which you need to avoid) use much cheaper hotels and only local guides. 

Future Tours - we will be running a more intense and ultimate Madagascar tour in 2026 so if you want to see everything then wait for that one but it will be tougher than this one and will not use charter flights !

If you want to come with Andy and get images that you can be proud of then read on.....





Marvellous Madagascar

We will be concentrating on three different habitats, two coastal and one forest. Like I said I will not reveal locations until the tour is fully booked to those going, so for now I will refer to all three as Lemur-on-Sea, Maki's Place and Sifaka Forest. I have been multiple times to each and they are simply the best locations to get the best results for this express tour. Here's the overview of each....


Maki's Place

I've visited here the most of anywhere in Madagascar and have a special relationship with the guide and the place. Simply speaking they have the best access to comical dancing Sifakas and cute Ring-tailed lemurs. In specially organised photo sessions in the best light, orchestrated by me and my guides, you will get troops of dancing sifakas all around you and then groups of ring tailed sifakas hopefully with babies too. It's a wonderful experience and all clients love it. The weather be bright and clear, windy, raining or a mixture of both. But whatever the weather it's awesome, you will get 2 1/2 days here shooting time.

Walking is easy, along paths and lawns. We take a packed breakfast everyday to eat when our photography is finished.

Accomodation is a nice hotel on the sea, with a pool and a spa, good bar and fresh fish in the restaurant. It's a 30 minute drive each time to the lemur reserve in our 4x4's. 




Lemur-on-Sea

A very different beach vibe here as you are on the beach but the edge of the jungle so all wildlife lives with you! This is an awesome place for black and white ruffed lemurs, brown lemurs, crowned lemurs and the totally awesome Indri. We will spend our mornings with our guides and the various troops of lemurs around the lodge, always ending with an incredible session with the awe inspiring Indri and it's 140db call! At night they have special feeding sites for the rare nocturnal Aye Aye lemur, this is under special photographic lights so you will get great pics!

In addition to lemurs there are lots of chameleons, stick insects and nocturnal wildlife too, it's a place where the wildlife is all around you and you will get 2 1/2 days shooting time here.

Walking is easy, along paths in the jungle and on the beach.

Accomodation is basic, with simple rooms with beds and mosquito nets. Food is great with fresh fish and a beach vibe. Do not expect luxury here but it's great!








Sifaka Forest

Most people visit this location for the Indri and we may do that, but generally the Indri sightings at Lemur-on-Sea are closer and better. So here we will concentrate on the highly elusive Golden Sifaka, which everyone agrees is the most beautiful of all the sifaka species. They are tough to find, being forest dwellers, so we will have a network of trackers out looking in all the regular hotspots and they will lead us to them when found. We may find chameleons here and also if the Indri is low enough we may do an afternoon trek too for them. 

Walking will be in the rainforest, expect slightly undulating but nothing too taxing. If we do the Indri it might be a 20 minute walk that anyone of average fitness can do. You will get 1 1/2 days shooting time here.

Accomodation is the best! Awesome hotel, rooms, brilliant food, great coffee, spa, swimming pool you name it, a class joint. So if you don't fancy the sifaka you can have a chill out!



Other opportunities

So we have shown you some of the amazing species that we will see. Now in addition we will visit a special macro collection of chameleons, snakes, tomato frogs and leaf tailed geckos. You may see all these in the wild on the tour but in any case this location gets everyone great pics in natural surroundings. All of our clients come here and love it. 

We are working on a location for the amazing Coquerel's Sifaka, that will be decided nearer to the time! Finally there is a fun place we can visit for red ruffed lemurs and close encounters with bamboo lemurs called Lemur Island, it's touristy but you will enjoy it.

Photographic Indulgence

Madagascar is a wonderful place for nature photography and you will learn a lot of new skills from Andy. It is a not a country for long lens 500mm shooters, it is perfect for those with a 70-200mm or equivalent (100-500, 100-400, 40-150), some wide angles and a macro lens. We will get you very close when we can! At every step there is a potential picture, from stunning forests to engaging wildlife. Here's some images that Andy took in all of the locations that you will be visiting during this trip, as you see it's an incredible variety....






Experience = Preparation

When the tour gets closer Andy will send out regular newsletters to all delegates, with full details of what photographic gear to take, clothing recommendations and full travel hints and tips. At this stage he will also start to reveal what you will be doing at each location and what pictures you can expect to get. 

On the travel side award winning tour operator Wildlife & Wilderness will be taking all the hassle out of the travel too!




Accommodation and Food

You are coming to Madagascar for the wildlife and anyone that expects 5 star luxury hotels are not suited for this trip. At Lemur-on-Sea the accommodation is the most basic, simple rooms with beds and nets, no frills. Rudimentary showers. Water and power on for a few hours each day. It's very remote and this is the best option for the lemurs.

At Maki's Place the accommodation is an acceptable international standard, at Sifaka Forest it is really superb. So you must be prepared for basic accommodation at the start and willing to accept it without complaint.

The food can be quite basic but it will be tasty and filling. If we are lucky then we will get fresh locally caught fish on the menu, the meat is good too. We can cater for very simple dietary requests such a veggie but anything more specific will be impossible to guarantee sorry and you will have to be adaptable.

We are therefore pleased to offer you this complete package to ensure that your adventure to Madagascar is a comfortable and relaxing one. We can stay at much cheaper places but you get what you pay for and we are getting great standard, safe accommodation and food.



A Word about Fitness

You do not need to be super fit for this tour but you will need to be able to hike over gently undulating terrain with your kit without help. You will not be travelling with a lot of kit anyway as you don't need it.

There will not be any really long walks, everything will be at your own discretion. The only exception to this will be the Golden Sifaka / Indri trek, we cannot help where they want to be but our trackers will find them and update us on the location. If you do not fancy it then we can take those who do and take you to Lemur Island instead, which is a much easier walk (although they are captive lemurs) or you can chill at the lovely hotel.

We only travel light anyway with our kit but you need to be aware of this. 

Managing Expectations

This is extremely important so please read carefully, do NOT just skip this bit!

You need to manage your expectations about what you can see in Madagascar, the wildlife is there and we know where to find it but it can also hide from us! That is why we are spending at least 4 sessions in each location, so you get a double chance of the iconic species. We cannot help the weather, if it rains that's not our fault!!

Also you need to realise that Madagascar is a very very poor country so standards may not be what you are used to. They are a very friendly and proud people and will do everything to make our stay a fun and productive one. Travel might incur delays, flights may be cancelled, you have to be able to take this in your stride without stress or complaint. We have a great local ground agent working with us and will have a local "fixer" with us at all times so we will handle any issues. Hopefully there will bit be any but this is Madagascar and you have to be prepared!!!

Itinerary

Ok the first thing to understand is that this is Madagascar and the itinerary may change!!! You will get the same trip but the order will not change so just trust us and use this just as rough guide. This also assumes a UK departure but don't worry we can deal with you coming from anywhere as long as you arrive when we ask you to - you can also use Steve at Wildlife & Wilderness to book your flights which will be the same price but you will have the peace of mind that he will help should there be any issues. Booking online does not help in this way. So I would respectfully suggest that you use Steve for the flights. The tour is based around the Air France flight. 

May 6th - Leave UK and arrive Antananarivo 10pm, transfer to local airport hotel

7th -  Fly internally to Maki's Place on a charter flight (probably mid am departure), hotel check in, pm Lemur shoot with ring tails and dancing sifakas

8th - Two photo sessions with the lemurs (to catch early / late light) and lunch in between

9th - Two photo sessions with the lemurs (to catch early / late light) and lunch in between

10th - Fly internally on a charter flight then two hour boat transfer to Lemur-on-Sea, maybe pm photo session, deffo evening Aye Aye session

11th -  Full day with the lemurs / chameleons / landscapes in this reserve, optional evening Aye Aye session

12th - Full day with the lemurs / chameleons / landscapes in this reserve, optional evening Aye Aye session

13th - Early morning session, 1 hour boat transfer, 4 hour drive to Sifaka Forest, pm Sifakas or chill

14th - Day depends on trackers, am / pm golden sifaka / Indri tracking, pm Lemur island or chill

15th - Morning departure for Chameleons and Coquerills sifaka, arrive Tana early evening, dinner, pack, transfer to airport for Air France flight home at midnight

16th - Arrive Paris mid morning....

Services End


Miscellaneous

So here are a few vital bits of other info you might wanna know:

Climate - It's pleasant, with a max of 24C, cool at night and not humid. It's a perfect time to come which is why we are travelling in May!

Rain - It can rain at anytime of the year so always bring a rain jacket with you and also protection for your cameras. We will still shoot in the rain!

Pre-Departure Info - Of course I will ensure that everyone single one of you is prepared fully for this trip with a series of informative newsletters before the trip (usually starting 4-5 months before). This will deal with simply everything you need to know ranging from visas to clothing to photo kit. Then when we are in country you will get regular help and advice, both when we are shooting and in-between safaris. 

Social side - my trips are conducted on a very social basis and the evenings are a chance to have a nice drink with good food and chat.

Privacy - All my tours have a strict "what goes on tour stays on tour" rule. Therefore there will be no daily BLOGS published or images of anyone on the trip before the groups agrees to it at the end of the trip. Therefore by signing up you agree to this! Under Data Protection laws you will not know the names of other participants before the trip either. This is to maintain my client's privacy at all times, which is very important to me.

Insurance - it is essential that you get comprehensive travel insurance, including if possible cancellation due to Covid restrictions. At the very least get cover for cancellation and every other eventuality you can think of. It would also pay to get emergency medical repatriation cover, all decent policies should have this but please check!

Health - since we are in a rainforest environment you will need to take anti-malarial precautions as a minimum. We will provide more comprehensive info nearer to the time. Travel will be safe and we will be with experienced locals. You will need a valid Yellow Fever certificate.

Kit - so this is not a trip for a big fixed 500 / 600mm lens, they are a waste of time here. A 70-200, 100-400, 100-500, 40-150 with a converter that kind of lens with wide angles and macro will be perfect. 

Working alone - in the rainforest we will be working as a tight group. At the other locations we will have a mixture of working together and working independently and you must be comfortable doing this! There maybe other groups around but this is a quiet time of the year.


Cost and Booking

The cost for this amazing trip is £9450 per person, which is based on sharing a twin room. This includes all accommodation and meals, the internal flights, all transfers and the services of Andy Rouse and his team of english speaking guides. It also includes all tips along the way, which are considerable, except for our main guide who will be with us all the way through.

Single supplement £500.

Flight package - this tour is in partnership with bonded tour operator Wildlife & Wilderness. They can get excellent competitive rates for both economy and business class travel on to Madagascar, taking the hassle out of the booking for you. Going it alone may see the best option but when things go wrong and flights get cancelled then W&W have been excellent in getting us to and from destinations without any hassle on our part. 

There are two main options for flights to Madagascar, Kenya Airways via Nairobi and Air France via Paris. The KA flight is notoriously unreliable and gets delayed (last time we had an 8 hour delay in Nairobi) and cancelled so we are recommending the Air France flight from Paris which offers all 3 classes and Air France service.

To secure your place on this tour we require a non refundable deposit of £1500 per person.

If you want to come then please email Andy on andyrouse@mac.com





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    You agree to act in a suitable and proper manner whilst participating in the services with particular reference to the safety and welfare of wildlife and the enjoyment of the service by other participants and their safety.  Should you be in breach of this we reserve the right to expel you from the services and in those circumstances you would not receive any refund. 

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    If we cancel the services you will receive a full refund. If Andy Rouse is not able to lead the tour for reasons of health or any other unforeseeable event then the tour will still take place and a suitable guide replacement will be provided of the same quality and experience. 

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    1. Once we and you enter into a binding contract you will not be able to cancel the contract.  This is so that the services we are providing can continue for the benefit of other clients.  In the case of trips to India and Rwanda, any money paid by you will not be refunded whereas paid as a deposit or in full payment. In the case of trips to other destinations, unless covered by specific terms in the brochure, can only be refunded once a replacement has been found for the tour. In all cases once your balanace has been paid then all monies become non refundable. 

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